Soaking-pit crane.



No. 660,477. Patented Oct. 23, I900.

s. T..& c. H. WELLMAYN & .1. w. SEA-VER'.

SUAKlNG PIT CRANE.

(Application filed Sept. 18, 1899.)

(No'ModeL) 3 Sheets-Sheet I.

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No. 660,477. Patgnted Oct. 23, I900. S. T. &. C. HJWELLMAN & J. W.SEAVER.

SUA'KING PIT CRANE.

' (Applic atipp filed Sept. 18, 1899.) (No Model.) 3 S haets$heet 2.

m: scams PKYERS co. PnoTQuri o. \NLSHINQTON, o. c.

Patented Oct. 23, I900.

3 Sheets$heet 3.

8. T. & C. H. WELLMAN & J. W. SEAVER.

SOAKING PIT CRANE.

(Application filed Sept. 18 1899.) am Model.)

m: "cams PsYzns' w, PPOTO-LITMOH WASH UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL T. WELLMAN, CHARLES H. WELLMAN, AND JOHN W. SEAVER, OF CLEVELAND,OHIO.

SOAKlNG-PIT CRANE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 660,477, dated October23, 1900.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SAMUEL T. WELLMAN, CHARLES H. WELLMAN,and JOHN W.SEAVER, citizens of the United States, and residents of Cleveland, Ohio,have invented certain Improvements in Soaking-Pit Cranes, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Our invention consists of a crane for carrying ingots to and from asoaking-pit and for depositing them in and withdrawing them from saidpit, the main object of our invention being to so construct the cranethat a maximum length of stroke or lift is obtained with a minimumamount of head room, further objects being economy in construction andconvenience in controlling the motions of the various parts of thecrane. These objects we attain in the manner hereinafter set forth,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 isa side elevation of our improved soaking-pit crane. Fig. 2is atransverse section, partly in elevation and on a larger scale, of partof the crane. Fig. 3 is a sectional z 5 plan view on the line a a, Fig.2. Fig. 4 is a transverse section, on a still larger scale, of thetelescopic leg which carries the grippingtongs. Fig. 5 is a side view ofthe grippingtongs. Fig. 6 is a section on the line b b,

0 Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a section on the line (1 d, Fig. l. Fig. Sis asection of the telescopic leg on the line ff, Fig. 4.. Fig. 9 is a viewshowing the tongs in the open position, and Fig. 10 is an enlargedsectional view of a certain 5 sheave-operating device forming part ofthe crane.

Referring first to Fig 1, a soaking-pit of any desired construction isrepresented at 1, while on each side of this soaking-pit are posts orcolumns 2, each being one of a series or row of such columns, or 2 2 mayrepresent the opposite walls of a structure in which the soaking-pit islocated. Mounted upon the columns or walls 2 are girders 3, whichconstitute runways for the crane and are provided with rails i for thereception of wheels 5 on said crane.

The main structure of the crane consists in the present instance of twoparallel boxgirders 6 6, as shown in Fig. 2, these girders beingconnected at their ends to transverse Application filed September 18,1899. Serial No. 730,881. (No model.)

girders 7. The girders of which the crane is composed may, however, beof any desired character consistent with the character of the work to beperformed and the load which the crane has to bear, the construction ofthe crane forming no essential part of ourinvention.

One of the girders of the crane carries an electric motor 8, thearmature-shaft of which is geared to a shaft 9, which in turn is gearedto a shaft 10, extending longitudinally along the girder and carrying apair of the wheels 5, upon which said girder is mounted. Hence by meansof such motor and gearing the crane '65 can be traversed to and fro uponits runways 3. Upon rails 11 on top of the girders 6 are mounted thewheels 12 of a trolley 13, which can be traversed to and fro throughoutthe length of the crane-girders and which carries 7o mechanism forraising and lowering and opening and closing the tongs for gripping theingot.

Upon reference to Fig. 4 it will be seen that each lever 14 of the tongsis hung to a head 15, formed upon a rod 16, comprising upper and lowersections connected by a swiveljoint 17, so that the lower section andits head 15 can turn without any corresponding turning movement of theupper section, the swivel-joint havinga ball-bearing 18 to lessen thefriction due to such turning movement. The lower arms of the levers 14of the tongs are provided with spurs or teeth 19 for en gaging theingot, and the upper arms of said levers are hung to links 20, which arepivoted on opposite sides of a head 21, secured to the inner section 22of a telescopic leg, whereby the tongs are supported and operated, thistelescopic leg comprising in the present instance three sectionsnamely,the inner section 22, already referred to, an intermediate section 23,and anouter section 24=--the inner section 22 being free to slidedownwardly in the intermediate section 23 to an extent lim- 5 ited bycontact of the shoulders 25 and 26 and upwardly to an extent limited bycontact of a spring-buffer 27 on the head 21 with the lower end of thesection 23, and the latter section is free to slide downwardly in theouter section 24 to an extent limited by contact of a shoulder 28 on thesection 23 with a IOO spring-buffer 29, carried by the section 24, andupwardly to an extent limited by the lift of the hoisting apparatusdescribed hereinafter. The three sections of the telescopic leg are inthe present instance cylindrical and are prevented from turning onewithin the other by reason of a filling-block 30, carried by the outersection and engaging with a flat? tened portion of the intermediatesection, and a filling-block 31, carried by the intermediate section andengaging with a flattened portion of the inner section, as shown inFigs. 7 and 8; but it will be evident that the sections of the leg mayhave some form of cross-section other than a cylindrical form, in whichcase no special means of preventing the turning of one independently ofthe other will be necessary. The outer section 24 of the telescopic legis free to turn in a bearing 32, secured to a hanger 33, depending fromthe frame of the trolley 13, and said outer section 24 of the leg hasnear its upper end a collar 34, which is supported by a ring 35, mountedon transverse girders 36, secured to said hanger, a ball-bearing 37being interposed between said collar and ring, so as to lessen thefriction due to the turning movement.

Rotation of the telescopic leg and of the tongs carried thereby may bereadily effected by means of an electric motor suitably located anddriving a shaft 38 with worm 39, meshing with a worm-wheel 40 upon theup per projecting end of the outer section 24 of said leg, as shown inFig. 2.

To the upper end of the inner section 22 of the telescopic leg of thetongs is adapted a plug 41, and passing through this plug is a tubularsleeve 42, with outwardly-projecting flange 43, between which and theunder side of the plug 41 is interposed a ball-bearing 44, the lowerportion of said sleeve 42 forming a guide and bearing for the upper ornon-rotating section of the rod 16.

Mounted so as to be free to turn in suitable hearings on the frame ofthe trolley 13 is a shaft 45, which carries a drum 46, this shaft beingdriven by means of an electric motor 47, mounted 011 the trolley 13, orbeing rotated in any other available manner. The drum 46 is grooved orotherwise formed for the reception of three hoisting chains or ropes 48,49, and 50, which for convenience will hereinafter simply be alluded toas chains, the outermost of these chains 48 and 49 passing downwardlybetween guide-sheaves 51 and 52 and being connected to links 53 at theupper end of the sleeve 42, the central chain, however, before passingbetween the sheaves 51 and 52 passing around a sheave 54, which iscarried by the outer end of a rod 55, and the latter is combined withmeans whereby it may be projected or retracted, as desired, so as topull upon or slacken the chain independently of any movement impartedthereto by the drum 46. A convenient method of effecting this projectionand retraction of the rod 55 is to mount the latter in bearings 56, inwhich it is free to slide,and to form upon the rod a thread 57, Fig. 10,which is engaged by a nut 58,confined longitudinally between saidbearings and secured to or forming part of a spur-wheel 59, which can berotated in either direction by an electric motor or other availabledevice. The lower end of the chain 50is connected to an eye 61 at thetop of the upper section of the rod 16. Hence the raising and loweringof the sections of the telescopic leg and the simultaneousand likeraising and lowering of the rod 16 and its head 15 may be effected byturning the drum 46 in one direction or the other; but the provision ofthe movable sheave 54 for the chain 50 permits of a movement of the rod16 and head 15 independently of the sections of the telescopic leg bypulling upon or slackening said chain 50. Raising of the rod 16 and itshead 15 independently of the telescopic leg causes the opening of thelevers of the tongs,as shown in Fig. 9, While lowering of said rod 15and rod 16 independently of said telescopic leg causes said levers ofthe tongs to close to an extent permitted by contact of projecting arms62 on the links 20, as shown in Fig. 4. It will be seen, therefore, thatthe gripping device comprises, practically, two elementsnamely, thelevers 14 and the links 20one of these elements being carried by thesection 22 of the telescopic leg and the other by the rod 16 of thesame. Hence movement of the gripping device without opening or closingthe same will be effected when the parts 22 and 16 move in unison, andthe opening of the gripping device will be caused when the part 16 movesindependently of the part 22.

Supposing that the telescopic leg of the crane to be contracted to itsfull extent, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and that the tongs are open, asshown in Fig. 9, the crane is operated so as to bring the tongs abovethe ingot which is to be handled, and the tongs are then lowered byturning backward the drum 46 until they are in position to grasp theingot, whereupon the chain 50 is slackened by moving outward the sheave54, so that the weight of the tongs, the head 15, and the rod 16 causessaid tongs to descend, thereby spreading the links 20 and forcing thegripping-jaws of the tongs into contact with the sides of the ingot. Thedrum 46 is now turned in a direction opposite to that just described,thereby retracting the telescopic leg of the crane and lifting thetongs,with the ingot gripped thereby,there being no tendency of thetongs to open and release the ingot, because the rod 16 and head 15 arebeing raised at precisely the same rate as the telescopic leg. The craneis then 0perated so as to convey the ingot to its desired position abovethe soakingpit, and the drum 46 is then again turned so as to unwind thechains 48, 49, and 50 and lower the tongs, with the ingot, into thesoaking-pit. When the ingot has been properly deposited, movement of thedrum 46 is arrested and the shaft 54 is drawn inward, so as to pull uponthe chain 50, raising the head 15 and opening the tongs.

Owing to the use of the telescopic leg of the crane, extended lift anddrop of the tongs are permitted with theminimum amount of head room forthe crane, while the general construction of the crane is of a simpleand compact character, and the various movements of the tongs are underready control of the operator stationed in a suitable cage 70.

Having thus described our invention, we claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent- 1. The combination of the gripping-tongs comprising twoelements movable in respect to each other to open and close thegrippingjaws, a raising and lowering device for the gripping tongs alsocomprising two elements, one connected to one element of thegrippingtongs and the other to the other element of the same, a singledrum having chains connected to the different elements of the saidraising and lowering device, and means for pulling upon and slackeningthe chain of one element independently of the movement imparted to thechains by the drum,substantially as specified.

2. The combination of the gripping device with a crane having 3.depending telescopic leg carrying said gripping device, said telescopicleg having sliding sections and springbuffers serving to arrest themovement of the sections of the leg as they are projected or retracted,substantially as specified.

3. The combination of the gripping device, a crane having a dependingtelescopic leg carrying said gripping device, and composed of sectionscapable of being projected and retracted, means for effecting suchprojection or retraction of the sections without opening or closing thetongs, and provision for imparting turning movement to the leg and itsgripping device independently of the projecting and retractingmechanism, substantially as specified.

4. The combination of the gripping device having two elements movable inrespect to each other so as to open and close the gripping-jaws, atelescopic leg carrying one of the elements of said gripping device, anda rod mounted in said leg and carrying the other element of the grippingdevice, said rod being capable of moving with or independently of theother sections of the telescopic leg, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of the gripping device having two elements movable inrespect to each other so as to open and close the gripping-jaws, atelescopic leg carrying one of said elements and combined with meanswhereby it may be rotated, and a rod mounted on said telescopic leg andcarrying the other element of the gripping device, said rod beingcomposed of sections connected by a swivel-joint, whereby one may berotated without imparting rotating movement to the other, substantiallyas specified.

6. The combination of the gripping device, a telescopic leg carrying thesame and composed of sections capable of sliding one within another, acrane-trolley having a bearing in which the outer section of the leg isrevolubly mounted, and a raising and lowering device having an elementupon which the in-- nor section of the leg is also revolubly mounted,substantially as specified.

7. The combination of the gripping device comprising two elementsmovable in respect to each other so as to open and close thegripping-jaws, a trolley having a depending support comprising two partseach carrying one of said elements of the gripping device, a

single drum on the trolley having chains connected to one part of thedepending support whereby the same may be raised and lowered, andanother chain connected to the other part of said support, a sheavearound which said latter chain passes, and means for projecting andretracting said sheave so as to slacken or tighten said chain,substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

C. W. GoMsTooK, S. REsToN SAGUE.

